This is a group of mates who have been playing wargames together in Hobart, Tasmania since the early '70s. HQ is Jim's place in Battery Point, but games are played at several venues in Tasmania, Canberra & even England. If you want to get hold of us, please email campcromwell@netspace.net.au

Friday, March 31, 2006

The Germans dug in with 3 infantry, 3 a/tank, 2 mortars & Itie Semos.The Kiwis with 2 infantry attacked on the right under cover of their 25pdrs.The US with 2 infantry, 105's, 37mm a/tank, HMG, TDs, Shermans & Honeys advanced on their left.

After the US infantry advance ground to a halt under accurate mortar fire the US took note of the Kiwi's wingeing & moved their armour towards the centre to support the Kiwi attack. The Kiwis used hills to cover their advance. The main US armour (Shermans) took forever to arrive where it was needed (what's new) so the Kiwis went in with just the Honeys to help. Their first platoon was reduced to 1 but it & the Honeys made a mess of the defending platoon on the objective. The 2nd Kiwis all but finished off the platoon, beat off the Semos then holed up in some ruins giving fire support waiting for the Shermans to show up. Finally the Shermans arrived took the objective and resisted the counterattack from the German reserves to win the battle.

A tough battle, won in the end because once Oakie had gone home the US armour did their stuff - braving the Henschels, passing almost every morale test & throwing shirtloads of good MG dice.The Henschels came often & scared the hell out of the Yanks, but really didn't do that much against some pretty antsy AAMG fire. (2 hits from 5 aamg, 2 6's for firepower, & 2 more for the re-roll was an extreme example).The Allied artillery looked fearsome, but like the Henschles couldn't hit anything vital (hard to hit these Germans if they don't move). Strangely neither side lost a platoon, though plenty on both sides were reduced to 1 or 2 survivors.

Sunday, March 26, 2006

Jim's Grenadiers v. SteveP's Russian Guards.1500 pts Envelopment Mission (diced for on the CC Mission List). Germans chose to defend.Both sides had infantry armies - not only no armour - there wasn't even a truck to be seen.

The Envelopment Mission is a modified Hold the Line. The defenders get some fortifications while the attacker gets to make flank/rear attacks with at least 1 & up to 1/2 of his platoons (start dicing for these on turn3).

The Germans used their fortification points to put a minefield across the left half of the front. The unmined half of the front was in front of the forward objective, but was an open plain - perfect field of fire. The Russians made an advance with 1st guards & sappers on the minefield on their right flank while their artillery & Sturmos were to soften the enemy up for a flank attack by 2nd guards. The Germans dropped their HMGs out of ambush on their left behind the minefield & enagaged in counterbattery fire with their 105s. 1st Grenadiers were dug in on the forward objective. 88s were tucked out of sight of observers behind woods near the rear objective to provide AA cover. 2nd Grenadiers, Pioneers, Pak 40's & 2ic with mortars in reserve.

The German reserves came on 1 a turn which allowed them to put an Infantry platoon to guard both rear flanks, but the Russian Reserve/Flank force also came early. It came on and attacked Pioneers before they could be dug in. The smgs killed most & the assault finished them off. For a short time it looked bad for the Germans with just 1st Grenadiers & the small 105 battery between the flanking platoon & the objectives. But finishing off the 105s delayed them & the 1st Grenadier's dug in were a tougher nut than the Pioneers - plus their firing was deadly. The 2nd Guards attack ground to a halt & the 2nd Grenadiers came over from the other flank to finish them off. Meanwhile the attack on the HMGs petered out under a hail of HMG fire. Delayed by the minefield the 1st Guards & Pioneers were mown down. The Sturmos came often, but the 88s stopped some, some didn't find targets & most hits were saved anyway. The Russian artillery was cut down to 2 pieces before the 105s were forced to defend themselves so their fire was pretty ineffective.

We liked the scenario & it seems well balanced (though luck with reserves dice is pretty critical). The attackers flanking force is hard to deal with, but the minefields are a great advantage also. Steve erred in taking on the minefield direct - the open ground looked scary, but was probably a better bet. There was a critical turn when the 2nd Guards assaulted the 1st Grenadiers and were pinned by defensive fire. If that attack had succeeded, the objective would have been taken with no one else able to dispute it. Airpower again proved to be nerve wracking, but actually not very effective.

Friday, March 24, 2006

MarkO's US Inf v. SteveJ's Falschirjager in 2000pts HTL. Germans chose to attack on a large crowded table.Jim umpiring. (Anvers & Nick dropped in for a while).

This time Steve's Henchels kept on coming, though their effect was far from devastating & they went missing at the end when really needed. The American Luftwaffe took out some of their own artillery, stopped the Henchels twice & finished off the German HQ at the end.The US ambushes of Homeys & Stuarts looked scary, but were soon dealt with by a/tank guns & infantry.The German infantry got to the objective, but was blasted back off it by US firepower.Finally, about midnight, the US won by killing all the Huns over the centreline.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

As some compensation for a work trip to Burnie Jim took his K&C to the northern desert to face the might of the DAK.Jim's K&C Brits attacking Chris' DAK in a 2000pts King of the Hill on 9x5 table. Robert also present for a while.

The King of the Hill is one of the unofficial web scenarios - there's a big hill in the centre of the table. The defender digs 1 platoon in on it with the rest of his army in one corner ready to move up & help. The attacker has 3 platoons in reserve, the rest in the diagonally opposite corner to the defender. The flat top of the hill is the objective.

The Dak had 2 panzer platoons (MkIIIs, MkIII* & MkIV), 2 motorised grenadiers, reece, Pak 38s, 88s & some add-ons in HQ. They deployed the Paks on the hill, the 88s to cover the advance, & the rest rushed forward to help the defence. The Brits has 3 inf, hmgs, mortars, 1 large & 1 small 6pdrs, bugs, Matildas & a double 25pdr battery. The inf rushed forward. The mobile stuff was in reserve, but came quickly and moved up as fast as it could. Brit inf took the hill but were immediately blown back off it by the MkIIIs. Another platoon attacked the MkIIIs under smoke and retook it. The surviving MkIIIs rallied & took it back. Meanwhile the 25pdrs caused great disruption with a well placed Stonk. The Matildas & smal 6pdr plat had taken care of the reece and with the help of the artillery also the MkIVs. The bugs cleaned up a Grenadier platoon before getting blown away by the 88s. Just in time, the Matildas crossed the top of the hill and cleaned up the German HQ on the rear side to force an unwinable Morale test, though the MkIIIs still contested the top of the hill.

Both players liked the scenario. It was good fun & seemed well balanced. The Brits were fortunate in the end - they failed to get uncontested control of the hill, but the German HQ failed their platoon morale & evaporated leaving the coy below 1/2 strength just before the time limit expired for the Brits.

Monday, March 20, 2006

It took a while, and it was supposed to happen last year, but we finally got together for our Maharajah game. The first one was a draw, characterised by Steve's Hs129b planes blowing the crap out of everything I had, while I had some lucky shooting rolls at critical moments that stopped Steve's attack.

After much thought, I tweaked my army list for the rematch. Steve did as well, and the game looked to be a tough battle.

Except for one thing -- the HS129's didnt arrive for Steve.

I had paid for maximum airpower (to stop the hienies), and bought an AA platoon. The airpower intercepted Steve's planes every time except once, and they managed to arrive once with no interception, taking out an 88. Steves planes killed two artillery guns, but that was it.

With no air support, Steve had to attack with his infantry. It was here that he discovered a slight tweaking of the US army. The addition of a weapons platon with 4 x LMG teams, plus Command Kelley, provided the US infantry with enough fire power to stop the attacking infantry. Eventually I dropped stuarts (with Reb Jackson) and AA half tracks out of ambush, and the combined firepower effectivly destroyed Steve's attack.

Forced to keep going, Steve managed some devilishly effective smoking. But in the end, a platoon reduced to 4 stands could not take the objective.

Friday, March 17, 2006

SteveJ's Falshimjager defending v. SteveP & Jim's K&C (Brit+Indians)The scenario is on the website this week - a modified Cauldron. The Germans started dug in in a tight box on one table edge with half their force. That Empire started with a random deployment but also dug in if they want. The scenario seems pretty well balanced - probably an improvement on the Cauldron.

The Allied inf stormed forward with HMG, bugs, Shermans & a double 25pdr battery ready to provide fire support as soon as the Huns showed their heads. The Germans opened fire immediately with great effect as the Allies threw a pile of 1&2 saves. The Allies returned heavy fire with little effect but the Tommys pressed on and both objectives were quickly over-run under heavy smoke. But the Huns had more infantry handy to counterattack. The unsupported Tommys on the left were overwhelmed, the bugs on the right got flamed and swamped and both objectives were retaken. The Shermans retook the RHS objective. The Falschirmjager which retook the LHS objective survived a 25pdr Murder with zero casualties, then unpinned and counterattacked the Shermans. A recoiless 75 took out one Sherman, the remaining 2 couldn't pin the attackers & were bailed in the assault so the RHS objective changed hands again. Now the Allies poured the fire of 4 HMGs, 8 25 pdrs (direct fire) & 6 infantry onto the exposed defending platoon - 39 dice and they killed no-one. The Indian infantry (delayed & weakened by mortar fire) had finally come up and now charged making their fearsome warcry. It was the last chance for Allied victory, but the curse of the save dice struck again & they took casualties in the charge & failed morale. Next turn the Allies failed Coy Morale. This was a very close battle that could have gone either way. A sound defence v. a sound attack so luck had its way.

Sunday, March 12, 2006

After a full on morning of Laser Tag, the spare room got its first actual wargame. Cameron and his son Tristan came up, ostensibly to play Mage Knight, but it turned into the kids playing video games, so the adults opted for a quick flames of war.

We created armies from what I had. Which is a lot of tanks and not a lot of infantry. So it was two armoured forces. Cameron was Russian and I was German (decided by the roll of a die). We fought over the steppes, modified by throwing down some hills.

The Germans deployed 3 Stugs in the center, covering the first objective. The rationale was that with their big gun and superior range, they could get in a lot of shots. The panzer IIIs were reserves. The Russians deployed the SU 152's and KV's in the center for a charge at the objective, while the T-34s and SU76s tried to sneak up each flank.

The game started with the Russians doubling their T-34s down the side of the table, hiding them behind the lone woods on the table.

The Germans managed to maneuver their Pz IVs to shoot at two tanks that were sticking out, but only managed to bail one T-34. The Stugs failed to have any effect on the SU 152's. Then the Germans stormtroopered to cover.

The Russians unbailed their bailed T-34, and continued their advance, maneuvering their T-34s out from behind the forest, in range of objective II.

Deciding the T-34s were a threat, the German C in C and 2iC popped back over the hill -- and missed. The Stugs concentrated on the SU 152's, and with 5 shots managed to bail one tank :(. To make matters worse the C in C and 2iC failed his stormtrooper roll, and sat on the top of the hill staring back at 8 t-34's.

Smelling blood, the T-34s pounded the German command structure into vapour, while continuing their advance. The SU 152 commander doubled on to the first objective.

The German reinforcements arrived. 5 x Pz IIIs ran to the top of the hill -- and managed to kill one T-34. They then also failed their stormtrooper, and sat still as inviting targets. Fortunately the Stugs finally managed to load real shells into their guns, and the SU 152's were vapourised.

Blasting away, the T-34s destroyed the Panzer III platoon. Needing a 1 to penetrate, the T-34s hit 7 times and penetrated 4 times. Fortunately one resulted in a bail. But the end result was the Panzer III platoon that ran to the rescue was now mostly scrap metal, with 2 bailed tanks. The KV's moved close to the other objective, and managed to kill one of the stugs with a lucky long range shot. Fortunately the german luck changed, and they managed to save on their morale roll.

Over the next two turns the Panzer IIIs came good, and destroyed some T-34s, but the damage was done. One was knocked out. And the KV's moved onto the other objective. The stugs had to move up the contest the objective, but the SU76's crept into the stug's rear and destroyed them.

In the end a 5-2 victory to the Russians -- but revenge is planned!!!!!!!

The room had a few teething problems. I will re-arrange the table for the next game -- its current place makes it VERY hard to play one side.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Mark 1160 pts US Inf + Leigh 1500 pts US MechattackingSteveJ 1310 pts Falshimjager + Jim 1345 pts GrenadiersScenario chosen by dice & table, coys cobbled together from what was available. Barrie was present for a while. Apologies from Peter - absent due to an examination on sauces ?

The whole US army lined up against the Grenadier's side of the table. The Germans got a severe pounding in the Preliminary Bombardment but that bad luck was well compensated for by good reserve dice - 1 each on turn 4 & 1 each on turn 5. Steve made a token move towards the threatened flank, but desisted when he came under artillery & mortar fire. Instead he deployed his reserve Falshirmjager on the left to support Jim. The US infantry advanced slowly up to and through the first line of wire & up to the minefield while the German defenders lay doggo. Only when the GIs reached the minefield did the Huns pop up out of their trenches and start blasting away. Hot shooting from 2 HMG, a Pak36 & a mortar pinned both forward platoons. Pinned down, the GI's couldn't cross the minefield & the US lost through having no teams over the centreline by turn 7. The US suffered for lack of experience with the scenario - which for the attacker is easy to stuff up if you don't do it just right. The Huns were grateful that the advance was too cautious & that the engineers were not pushed to the front.

Thursday, March 02, 2006

SteveP's Russian Inf defending v. Jim's Fucilieri in a 1500 pts Hold the Line.The Ities used the terrain to cover their main advance on their left against the forward objective while they moved infantry forward on the other flank to get observers into place for the artillery, mortars & light guns in the centre. The Reserve Ivans got pounded by artillery and mortar fire as they moved up, then the Ities swarmed over the hill at the Ivan front line. The L6's and Pioneers cleaned up the 2 Ivan infantry platoons on the objective then destoyed the counterattacks (with the help from an awful lot of fire support). The T34s rushed over from the other flank and began systematically destroying the objective's new defenders, but the invincible L6s ignored them, left the light mortars and Capitano da Angelo to contest the objective, and hunted down the few surviving Ivan infantry & HQ. This caused Russian Morale Failure & gave the Ities victory.

Camp Cromwell on Thursday

2 v.2 Coys Death from above:SteveJ & Ander's with Falschirmjager (1500 pts each) on a 8x6 table.Jim (as Monty) with Barrie's Brits & MarkO's Indians (1500 pts each).After the usual confusion of an air landing the Huns sorted themselves out & began to advance on a neat Alllied line which had received few reinforcements (though what they got came in safely from behind their own line). The Luftwaffe came often, the RAF hardly at all, but damage from above was slight. Eventually the late Allied reserves showed up in the Hun rear, obviously delayed by their long flank march. The Bugs and tanks went on a rampage in the rear area, but Steve's attack took an objective with no Indians close enough to immediately dispute it. The Allied fired every tube they could muster at the Huns on the objective, HMGs, mortars, artillery, AA, rifles & finally 3 long range shots by the Grants got the last one. Anders attacked the other objective & pushed back the Indian defenders, but Mark's counterattack destroyed the platoon. That was the last throw of the dice for the Huns, both Coys fell below half strength & although passing morale were out of steam & at 11pm the Huns conceded. After a slow start, it got exciting in the end as the Huns tried to grab an objective before the Allied reserves could win the game.

SteveP's Russian Inf v. MarkW's Panzers:Russians defending a HTL on a 6x4 table.The KV ambush took out the MkIV specials, the Big Guns took out the MkIV shorts, then the Kvs mopped up the MkIIIs.Russian losses = 4 teams. You just don't seem to get enough German armour for your points.

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Dak Pioneers Chris & Mike (new player) vs Brat Light armour General Nick with sub commander Robert.Free for all. 1500pts eachBrats recon on their far right, 25pounders on their right objective 13 Crusaders on and around left objective 3 crusaders in centre.Deployment see diagram.The Brats advanced across a wide front hoping to kill a double moving DAK platoon in lorries, unfortunately Nicks lack of experience with British he miscaculated the range of the Crusaders and therefore did no damage. Nick failed to smoke the 88 covering the right.The Dak opened fire with 88's, Moving panzer III's & IV's and the Recon jumped in with side shots on some crusaders. The recon got lucky 2 Crusader kills from 2 shots the other 6 crusaders were destroyed by the other Dak forces.Not looking good for the Brats half their tanks destroyed in 1 turn! the Brats retreated and again failed to smoke.Dak killed 2 more tanks and advanced towards the left objective. The brat artillery killed 2 stands of infantry.A fire fight between the Panzer III's and 4 crusaders resulted in 2 Panzer III's surviving and 1 Crusader stationary but alive (Carry on Sergeant). Meanwhile the Panzer IV's advanced on the right hand objective while the left was being threatened and the Brats were near breaking point with no C in C left.Final result 6-1 to the Dak.The Dak losing 2 stands of infantry and 2 Panzer III's.The Brats lost 9 crusader III's, 3 Crusader II's, 3 Crusader CS tanks (one was the C in C) & an observer team.